This past August, I took my first international trip since March 2020 and it was incredible! I’m so grateful I was able to take a 12-day “workation” to Dubrovnik, Croatia. It’s a long time to spend all in one place, but I wanted to take things slow and live like a local rather than a tourist always on the go. So I spent every afternoon swimming and the sea, then reading! LOTS of reading. And here’s what I read in August!

False Witness by Karin Slaughter

4/5 Stars

Leigh Collier is an up-and-coming defense attorney with a childhood that was ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence. One night she gets a call from one of the firm's partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. When she meets the accused face-to-face, she realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he may know what happened over twenty years ago.

I was impressed with my first Karin Slaughter read! This is a really solid crime novel with an emotional heart. There isn't much mystery in it, like no big twist revealed, but that's ok. I connected with the characters and enjoyed the pace of the plot.

This is the first book I've read to be set in a Covid world, and I really didn't like it. I thought it wasn't necessary to the story, and we read enough about it in the news that I'd rather not have it in my novels...

Luster by Raven Leilani

3/5 Stars

A young black woman finds herself as the other woman in an open marriage with an older white couple.

This novel sucked me in from the beginning. It's packed with intrigue, characters not behaving the way you'd expect them to. But by the back half of the book, there were enough random events that had yet to be resolved that I just got frustrated and honestly felt like the author was playing with me. Like, throwing in as much random specificity to appear literary, no matter how unrelated they are to the plot.

A lot of this randomness is a result of the main character's lack of agency. Things just happen to her. She's not steering the ship, so it got confusing fast. I had trouble sticking with a character who had just an utter lack of drive or motivation to do anything. It's weird to read a book where the main character doesn't have any motivation.

However, when I read the line, "A part of me was willing to die at any moment," I realized this book is about the futility of being a young black woman in America. Edie's lack of agency is exactly the point. But again, that made it a frustrating read for me. Which is maybe the point too.

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

3/5 Stars

Willis, a “Generic Asian man” who plays a background extra on the TV procedural Black & White, dreams of one day being “Kung Fu Guy”, the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain.

This book is definitely one of a kind and extremely imaginative, dare I say even groundbreaking in the style it is told. It is an important look at the way Asian-Americans are perceived in the US but particularly in film. It has a lot to say that I, as an Asian-American, wish everyone could hear.

However, the script-style storytelling, while obviously in theme with the subject matter, was just ultimately confusing for me. Maybe I don't have enough experience reading scripts, but it was hard to follow the plot as it jumped from the "scripted" world of a Hollywood set to real life. It felt like the characters were barbie dolls and the narrator was the child playing with them, changing course at the drop of a hat. Now, I get that this is meta for how Asians have just been treated like props in American society, but it still made the story hard to follow and also kept the characters at a distance.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

3/5 Stars

A modern retelling of Jane Eyre set in the modern American South. I found it an ok read. I just don't understand what the point of a retelling is if you're not going to change much about the original source material. Yes the setting is different, but there's a lot here I've seen before.

Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane

4/5 Stars

A group of friends changes forever when one of them is killed in a car accident. In the aftermath, secret affairs unfold, and Eve tries to get over the unrequited love she’s had for Ed all along. Meanwhile, Eve goes on a roadtrip with a man from her past, and it makes her question everything she knew about him.

I took a bit to get into this because it was not what I was expecting. The jacket blurb teases a big life event, but they really should have revealed it in the blurb since it is the major thing driving the plot and it happens really early on. But since I didn't know, it was a real downer and not the lighthearted read I was expecting. Also, the main character just kept doing things I didn't agree with, so it was tough to stick with her. But by the second half, it got good! There's heart to it, larger lessons of judging people, being loyal, and navigating adult friendships.

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

3.5/5 Stars

The third installment of Crazy Rich Asians sees the entire family flock to Tyersall Park as the grand-matriarch lies on her deathbed and the inheritance is up for grabs.

It's good enough that I finished it, but let's just say I'm not sad there isn't a fourth book. I think reading this right now is just not as fun as it was when it was published, and I was definitely burnt out on all the excess. So much so that I set it down for a whole week before I finally picked it back up to finish. This book was also tough to care because there isn't really a main character to root for. I didn't have any trouble keeping the stories straight, but rather feeling invested in the grand scheme of one extended rich family trying to hold on to their riches.